Eccentrically adjustable bearing



Jan. 16, 1962 L. c. HOBART ETAL 3,017,051

ECCENTRICALLY ADJUSTABLE BEARING Filed Jan. 26, 1960 alga) 3,017,061 lEiICENTRlCALLY ADJUSTAELE BEARING Leo G. Hobart, 4645 W. lrnperiai Highway, Inglewood, Calif, and Lyle Edwin Loper, 1150 N. Orange Drive, Holiywood, Calif.

Filed Jan. 26, 1969, SEE. No. 4,693 8 Claims. (Cl. 226177) This invention relates especially to printing or duplicating devices, and more particularly, relates to an eccenrically adjustable bearing for use in a pair of feed rolls to adjust one of the feed rolls relative to the other.

In a device of the type to which the invention pertains, two cooperating feed rolls are used to feed sheet material from rolls or to feed successive sheets of paper to an adjacent larger impression roll. The upper of the two feed rolls is a smooth metal roll and the lower is a rubberlike roll with spaced circumferential lands. The upper feed roll has a pair of eccentrically adjustable bearings that are manipuiated synchronously to shift the feed roll up and down while maintaining the feed roll horizontal. One end of the lower feed roll is connected to a drive gear and rotates about a fixed axis. The other end of the lower feed roll has an eccentrically adjustable bearing for upward and downward shift of its axis of rotation.

In feeding paper stock, the sheets are aligned with the gear end of the lower rubber-like feed roll largely because a trip mechanism is near that end. More often than not, the paper stock is of less width than the lower feed roll so that the gear end of the lower feed roll is subject to more use and more wear than the opposite adjustable end. Consequently, it is periodically necessary to manipulate the eccentrically adjustable bearing of the lower feed roll for realignment of the lower feed roll relative to the upper feed roll to cause the two feed rolls to grip the paper stock correctly.

To carry out the adjustment procedure, a retaining screw that overlaps the end of the eccentrically adjustable bearing of the lower feed roll is loosened by a screw driver and then the eccentric bearing itself is also adjusted by a screw driver, the eccentric bearing having a screw driver slot in its end for this operation. Unfortunately, such an adjustment procedure is awkward, takes an excessive amount of time and, too often, ends up with an adjustment of the lower feed roll relative to the upper feed roll that does not cause the paper stock to be fed to the larger impression roll in the required even manner. Each sheet may be gripped more firmly near one side edge than the other side edge to cause the sheet to turn or skew, this action being commonly termed tailwhip. This aberration in the behavior of the sheets makes it impossible to achieve registraton of successive colors or to achieve accurate registration of the ruled lines of successive printed forms.

One feature of the invention is based on the discovery of the reason for the usual maladjustment of the lower feed roll relative to the other. It has been discovered that the arc of eccentric adjustment of the adjustable end of the lower feed roll must be of the same orientation as the arc of adjustment of the two ends of the upper feed roll. In other words, the arc of adjustment of the lower feed roll must lie on the same side of a vertical diameter as the arc of adjustment of the two ends of the upper feed roll. When the lower eccentrically adjustable bearing is rotated to place its arc of adjustment on the opposite side of the vertical diameter than the side used by the upper feed roll, the adjustable end of the lower feed roll is shifted across the vertical diameter. Then the axis of the lower feed roll actually intersects the axis of the upper feed roll as the two axes are viewed in plan. The consequence is that a sheet of stock that is fed to the two feed rolls is gripped ed States att with maximum firmness in the region of the intersection of the two axes with the gripping action falling off progressively in both directions from the intersection point.

The invention removes this diificulty by providing means that limits the range of adjustment of the adjustable end of the lower feed roll to an are that lies on the same side of a vertical diameter as the arc of adjustment of the two ends of the upper feed roll. In the presently selected embodiment of the invention, the eccentrically adjustable bearing of the lower feed roll has a small plate perpendicular thereto and united with the outer end thereof, the plate being formed with two stop shoulders to confine the adjustment to the desired arc. In this regard, a further feature of the invention is that the two stop shoulders are the two opposite ends of an arcuate slot in the plate with the usual retaining screw extending through the slot. Thus the retaining screw not only has its usual function of releasably maintaining the eccentrically adjustable bearing at its selected position which it does with increased effectiveness, but also has the additional function of cooperating to limit the adjustment to the correct arc.

A second and important feature of the invention avoids the usual awkwardness and greatly expedites the adjustment procedure. Heretofore the operator who attempts to adjust the eccentric bearing of the lower feed roll may wish that he has three hands since it is desirable to carry out simultaneously the screw driver adjustment of the eccentric bearing, the screw driver adjustment of the retaining screw and the testing of the adjustment of the feed roll with a piece of paper. The present invention makes it possible to carry out this procedure with two hands. For this purpose, an eccentrically positioned element that is unitary with the lower eccentric bearing is adjustable by the forefinger of one hand of the operator and the nearby retaining screw is provided with a knurled head for simultaneous manipulation by the thumb and second finger of the same hand. Thus the operator has one hand free to test the adjustment of the feed rolls with a piece of paper.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the eccentrically positioned means for manipulation by the forefinger consists simply of a bent tongue of the plate that is united with the end of the eccentric bearing. Thus this plate has three functions in that it provides means to adjust the eccentric bearing by finger pressure, limits the adjustment to the correct art, and cooperates with the retaining screw to maintain a selected adjustment.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from the following description together with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, which is to be regarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the pair of feed rolls with their bearings omitted;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating what is meant by correct orientation of the lower arc of adjustment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how the axes of the two feed rolls intersect when the lower roll is incorrectly adjusted relative to the upper roll;

H6. 4 is a perspective view of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention showing how the forefinger of one hand may vary the eccentricity of the bearing while the thumb and second finger of the same hand manipulate the retaining screw;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation with parts in section showing the various parts of the device which may be sold for installation on existing devices;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing how the eccentrically adjustable bearing of the lower roll has been heretofore constructed; and

FIG. 7 is an elevation of the structure shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 1 shows a pair of feed rolls of the type to which the invention pertains. The upper roll it is a metal roll and has two trunnions 12. The means for adjusting this upper roll is not shown because it is well known and it is not part of the present invention. It is important to note, however, that the two trunnions 12 are adjustable up and down simultaneously through an are that lies on one side of a vertical diameter through the center of curvature of the arc.

The lower feed roll 14 in FIG. 1 is a rubber-like roll having a'plurality of lands 15 for yielding resilient contact with the upper feed roll it The lower feed roll 1 is united at one of its ends with a drive gear 16, and this end is journaled by conventional bearing means (not shown) that is not adjustable. The second end of the lower feed roll 14 has a trunnion 18 which is journaled by an eccentrically adjustable hearing, which bearing is the subject of the present invention.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, illustrating the prior art, one side wall 2%) of the printing machine has a bore 22 in which is mounted a bearing member 24 for the trunnion 18 of the lower feed roll 14. The bearing member 24, which is commonly made of a porous metal impregnated with lubricant, is rotatably adjustable in the bore 22 and has an eccentrically positioned longitudinal bore 25 to journal the trunnion 18. The outer end of the bearing member 24 is formed with a flat head 26 with a slot 28 for manipulation by a screw driver. As indicated in FIG. 7, the head 46 of the bearing member 24 usually has a fiat edge portion 30 on the side nearest the eccentric longitudinal bore 25 to indicate the orientation of the eccentric bore. Such an indication is desirable even though, in this instance, the longitudinal bore 25 is exposed to serve as an oil hole because such an oil hole is not always coaxial with the eccentric longitudinal bore that journals the trunnion 18. The side wall 20 of the machine is provided with a tapped bore 32 near the bearing bore 22 to receive a retaining screw 34. The retaining screw 34 has a screw driver slot 35 in a flat head 36 that overlaps the fiat head 26 of the bearing member 24. The retaining screw 34 is normally tightened against the flat head 26 of the bearing member 24 to maintain the bearing member in an adjusted position. To change the adjustment of the bearing member 24, the retaining screw 34 is temporarily loosened.

The parts of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 include: a bearing body or member 38 for mounting in the bore 22 in the side wall of the machine; a small end plate 40 that is suitably united with the outer end of the bearing body 38, which end plate is formed with a small bent tongue 42 and an arcuate slot 44; a retaining screw 45 to extend through the arcuate slot 44 into the tapped bore 32, the retaining screw having a knurled head 46 for finger manipulation; a relatively thick washer 48 for mounting on the retaining screw 45 on the outer side of the end plate 40; and a thinner washer 50 for use on the retaining screw on the inner side of the end plate 40. The periphery of the thin washer 50 may be slightly recessed as indicated at 51 in FIG. 4 to clear the adjacent enlarged portion 52 of the bearing member 38.

In the construction shown, the end plate 40 has a noncircular aperture to receive a reduced end portion '53 of the bearing member 38 and this end portion is peened to unite the end plate rigidly with the bearing member. The bearing member 38 has an eccentrically positioned longitudinal bore 54 to receive the trunnion 18 and has a communicating offset bore 55 that serves as an oil hold and extends through the peened end portion 52 of the bearing member.

As indicated graphically in FIG. 2, the arc of adjustment 56 of the two synchronously movable trunnions 12 of the upper feed roll It) lies on one side of a vertical diameter 58 through the axis of adjustment. Correct positioning of the lower feed roll 14 relative to the upper feed roll 18 requires that the arc of adjustment 6% of the lower roll 14- lie on the same side of a vertical diameter 62 through the axis of adjustment of the lower roll. If the are of adjustment 6G is on the opposite side of the vertical diameter, the axes of the two feed rolls 1t} and 14 diverge to intersect as viewed in plan. The maladjustment is illustrated by FIG. 3 in which the line 64- represents a vertical plane defined by the axis of the upper feed roll 10 and the line 65 is the intersecting vertical plane defined by the axis of the incorrectly adjusted lower feed roll 14.

To install the invention on an existing machine, the prior art bearing body 24 and the prior art retaining screw 34 are removed, the washer 48 is placed on the replacement retaining screw 45, the retaining screw is inserted through the slot 44 of the end plate 40, and the thinner Washer 59 is then placed on the inner end of the retaining screw. With the parts in these positions, the bearing body 33 is inserted in the bore 22 in the side wall of the machine and the retaining screw 45' is screwed into the tapped bore 32. The orientation of the arcuate slot 4d in the end plate 40 is the same as the orientation of the arc of adjustment 56 of the upper reed roll, i.e., the arcuate slot 44- lies on the same side of a vertical diam eter as the arc of adjustment 56. It is apparent that the arcuate slot 44 in cooperation with the retaining screw 45 eliminates any possibility of the lower feed roll being incorrectly adjusted in the manner indicated by FIG. 3.

The manner in which the invention functions to serve its purpose may be readily understood from the foregoing description. Normally, the retaining screw 45 is tightened to hold the bearing body 38 at a selected adjustment. The retaining screw is more efiicient than prior art retaining screws with respect to holding any selected adjustment because it has a greater area under pressure to maintain the adjustment and because the slotted end plate provides a longer radius from the adjustment axis. Whenever it is desirable to change this adjustment, the retaining screw 4% is loosened and then the operator manipulates the assembly in the manner shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 shows the operators forefinger in contact with the tongue 42 to vary the eccentric adjustment of the bearing body 38 and shows the operators thumb and second finger gripping the knurled head 46 of the retaining screw 45. The operator uses his other hand to insert a piece of paper between the two rolls to test the adjustment of the rolls and raises or lowers the tongue 42 until the correct adjustment is attained. Then, while holding the tongue 42 in the desired position, the operator uses his thumb and second finger to tighten the screw 46.

For the purpose of disclosure, the invention has been described as an accessory assembly to be sold for use on existing machines. It will be readily appreciated, however, that the invention may be incorporated in the factory fabrication of a printing machine.

Our description in specific detail of the selected embodiment of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from our disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a printing device having an upper feed roll to cooperate with a lower feed roll to feed paper to a printing mechanism, wherein both ends of the upper feed roll are adjustable up and down synchronously along identical arcs on a given side of a vertical diameter through an upper axis of adjustment concentric to the arcs, the combination therewith of means to adjust one end of the lower roll up and down, comprising: a bearing member rotatably adjustable about a lower axis of adjustment and journaling said one end of the lower feed roll on a hearing axis eccentrically positioned relative to said lower axis of adjustment; means unitary with said bearing member to limit the adjustment of said bearing axis to a range along an are on the same side of a vertical diameter through said lower axis of adjustment as the arc of adjustment of the upper feed roll relative to said first men tioned vertical diameter; means unitary with said bearing body and positioned radially of said lower axis of adjustment for adjustment of the bearing body within said range; and means to releasably hold said bearing memher at selected adjustments within said range, both said adjustment means and said releasable holding means projecting outward from the vertical plane of the end of said bearing member for simultaneous manual manipulation by the fingers of one hand.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said releasable holding means is a screw with manually rotatable head positioned sufficiently close to said adjustment means to permit the adjustment means to be manipulated by a forefinger of one hand of the operator and simultaneously permit manipulation of said head by the thumb and second finger of the same hand.

3. An adjustment means for a printing device having an upper roll to cooperate with a lower roll to feed paper to a printing mechanism, wherein both ends of the upper roll are variable up and down synchronously along identical arcs on a given side of a vertical diameter through a first adjustment axis concentric of the arcs, and wherein the adjustment means is rotatable in a fixed bore of the printing device to control the elevation of one end of the lower roll and the printing device has a threaded bore near the fixed bore, said adjustment means comprising: a bearing body of cylindrical configuration dimensioned for rotation in said fixed bore about a lower axis of adjustment coinciding with the axis of the bore, said body having an eccentric bore to journal one end of the lower roll; means unitary with said bearing body and positioned radially thereof for manipulation by one: finger to adjust the rotary position of the bearing body; a screw for threading into said threaded bore; and means unitary with said bearing body to cooperate with said screw to releasably hold the bearing body at selected positions of rotation and to limit the range of adjustments of said eccentrically positioned bore to an are on said given side of a vertical diameter through said lower axis of adjustment.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 3 in which said means to cooperate with said screw comprises a small plate united with said bearing body in a plane perpendicular to said lower axis of adjustment, said plate having two angularly spaced stop shoulders to cooperate with said screw.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 4 in which said means for manipulation by one finger is united with said plate.

6. A combination as set forth in claim. 5 in which said plate has an arcuate slot to receive said screw, said stop shoulders being the opposite ends of the slot.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 6 in which said means for finger manipulation is a bent tongue of said plate.

8. A combination as set forth in claim 7 in which said screw has a knurled head for rotation by a thumb and one finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,517,868 Goodwin Aug. 8, 1950 2,541,573 Conner Feb. 13, 1951 2,778,303 Stempel Jan. 22, 1957 

